Doolittle Raid B-25B Questions?

[Maty12]

So, I managed to draw this up while in class today:

I didn't have any reference with me, so it's somewhat inaccurate. Does it look like Lawson's sketch?

[Maty12]

BTW, when will you be back in Indiana?

[Garth]

Before we get back to the Raiders, I just wanna say that I just find that A tail gunner position so funny. Has gotta be a lot more comfortable than the Js, since he got to lie down rather than kneel. Also, would anyone mind telling me what the 4X- prefix on serial numbers means? Does it stand for the year? If yes, then how would a serial from 1939 look like? Also, does anyone have a list of B-25A serial numbers? I know that B-25B serials go from 40-2229 to 40-2348.

Miss Hap as built would have had that same tail stinger position, right? I wonder how much work was necessary to cut up the tail and modify to look like a standard B-25B/C/D position? Or did they just cut the entire tail off, say, forward of the horizontal stab, and replace it with an entirely new unit?

Also, since there's a little bit of threadjacking going on here about early mark B-25s, the Washington Post has the following picture up as representative of a B-25, for today's fly over. 41-12800 would make it a C I think, but what strikes me are the modified intakes that extend almost to the front of the cowl. Don't think I've seen that particular mod before:

[Maty12]

I've only ever seen that radiator mod in a video game called Blazing Angels. Considering how inaccurate the rest of game's B-25's 3d model is (B-25J with a belly turret, no bomb bay doors and wrongly animated landing gear doors), I assumed it was a mistake.

[Pathfinder]

I do like your rendering of the Duck....wonder if it will be similar to what Chris received...

[Steve Nelson]

Interesting carb intakes on 41-12800..they extend to the lip of the cowl. Never seen that before..some sort of dust filter?

Oh, and the 4x- prefix on the serial denotes the fiscal year when the aircraft was ordered.

SN

[Maty12]

Interesting carb intakes on 41-12800..they extend to the lip of the cowl. Never seen that before..some sort of dust filter?

Oh, and the 4x- prefix on the serial denotes the fiscal year when the aircraft was ordered.

SN

Thanks for the info. I thought it was the year the planes arrived, but that'd make no sense considering all Bs started with the 40 prefix.

I do like your rendering of the Duck....wonder if it will be similar to what Chris received...

Thank you. I've been wondering about the accuracy myself. It's a shame I can't go to that Tokyo museum to check out the real Duck and make sure.

[Maty12]

Found this other picture of 41-12800 if you wanna discuss it. Modified air intakes clearly visible:

Demarcation line seems similar to that found on B-25Bs of the Doolittle Raid, straight and low.

[mustangdriver]

I'll get pics next week of the drawing. It's very close to what you have drawn.

[Maty12]

I'll get pics next week of the drawing. It's very close to what you have drawn.

Glad to hear it. Looking forward to those pics.

[Maty12]

While we wait on that, I'm gonna ask what you guys think of my work on the right exhaust stack:

[Steve Nelson]

Not bad, but the individual stacks on the cowl have to go. Also, the turret needs to be moved to the aft fuselage (and the bumps behind it removed..those are bullet deflectors.) Also the waist and tail gun positions need to be deleted entirely, along with the "package" guns below the cockpit. I don't think the Doolittle planes had the fixed machine gun in the nose either..just a hand-held .30 cal.

Here's a pic I took of the Doolittle display at the USAF Museum (actually a B-25D with some cosmetic mods to resemble a B.) Note that the mannequin of Col. Doolittle looks absolutely nothing like Alec Baldwin.

SN

[Maty12]

Steve, I don't know if you've checked the previous posts, but this is a skin for War Thunder's B-25J-1. 3D modelling isn't possible in this game since the models can't be exported. The Exhaust stack is not a 3d object, it's painted on. While some parts can be removed with an alpha channel, but the clayton stacks have holes underneath them, so I can't remove them.

[Steve Nelson]

Ah..I didn't know how much you were able to alter the model. Considering the popularity of the Doolitte Raid, I'm surprised there isn't a B-model model available.

SN

[Maty12]

Well, I guess it's because of the B's lack of armament. If I had 3d modelling skills, I'd do it.